Adventures Of The Ero Bunny-Chapter 57: Power Of A Group

Slinking into our tunnel from a darkened corridor nearby, a giant scaled monster stared at us with bright red eyes, the golden slits acting as its pupils shining like searchlights as it searched for all of us.

Coming from the darkness and entering this more illuminated area, the monster parted its jaws and let out a hiss of irritation as its eyes adjusted once again, but that hopeful opening that we might have been able to take advantage of slipped us by before we realized it.

Its long, forked tongue spilled out of its open mouth, flicking around before sliding back in as it tasted the air like reptiles do; it clearly had an extra purpose as well since the monster focused on Heidi and Hilda right after that, and with a snarl it bounded forwards.

Four stumpy yet powerful legs carried it over the rocks with ease, its scaly hide rippling as it covered the ground between us in barely a second, raising one of those muscular legs and flashing the long, razor sharp talons at them to rend through their armor and rip them apart.

Immediately Heidi raised her shield in an attempt to block the attack, placing herself between the monster and us as she did her job as a vanguard warrior; as for Hilda, the lithe blonde didn't shout in surprise and try to save her sister, nor did she get caught off guard and stand their uselessly.

Instead, she unsheathed her blade and brought it up to her face, whispering something and summoning a gale of wind to surround her before flicking her rapier to the side with a crisp, swift burst of mana.

Darting forwards from behind her sister, Hilda waited for the monster to engage with Heidi and connect with her shield before leaping into the air, sailing over the burlier blonde and catching the monster off guard instead.

In that moment the sound of talons clinging against metal flooded the tunnel, each one sliding over the shield and shrieking as they sought purchase in the warrior's defenses, hoping to take her out here and now before she could become a real problem.

As Hilda soared through the air and prepared to attack the monster first, Ulya rushed forwards as well, but instead of engaging with the monster she instead situated herself behind Heidi, supporting the futanari as she was almost pushed back and muttering her own spell as she empowered them both.

Aiko and Izzy unsheathed their weapons together and darted forwards to join Hilda, who had managed to leave a long gouge across the lizard monster's contorted face, slicing through the scales and revealing the red flesh beneath.

All of this was in merely the first five or so seconds of that monster appearing, and that whole time I was still rooted to the spot, surprised and scared at the same time; the monster just exuded a presence that instilled fear in my heart, its size and sheer amount of mana triggering my fight of flight response just by existing.

I wanted to help them so badly, but my own body - my own mind - was telling me to take this opportunity to run, to get to safety and preserve myself, but it was that hesitation and that realization that caused me to grow.

They likely felt the same; this was no ordinary monster, not a typical thing to be fighting after a long day of harvesting resources, so they were feeling the same as me... and yet they were acting immediately, moving together to take on this monster as a group.

They relied on one another to be safe, to have one another's backs and come out of this alive, unscathed, and ready to knock back a few ales tonight in celebration for surviving yet another day.

None of them ran, none of them froze; they trusted in themselves and in one another, and doing so made it so easy for them to land the opening blow, to secure the initiative of the fight and begin working away at the life of this monster.

By the time another five seconds had passed, another gash was layered atop the monster's nose, and now it had a myriad of smaller cuts across its torso and legs, each one cracking open a few scales and revealing weaknesses, all while Heidi and Ulya tanked its attacks, providing a safe harbor for the others.

It was during that extra bit of time that I found my courage and found my will to fight, my earlier desire to improve igniting within my breast and allowing me to step forwards; not to engage the monster in close quarters combat, but to offer support.

I couldn't reliably do support magic since I didn't know how to do it, but I did have a grasp on offensive magic, and I did know that this scaled monster would be weak against a highly pressurized jet of water.

Most things were, to be fair, and as I dragged in a breath and imagined a stream of water vibrating and wrapping around itself shooting through the air at high speeds, I pushed my mana into my hands and created a small spring of liquid between my palms.

Pushing that further out, I conjured up a thin but swift beam of water, and soon it sliced through the monster's scales and into the meat below, cutting it and creating a new wound, one that drew a hiss and drew the red and gold gaze of this giant reptilian. freewebnøvel.com

I was behind Heidi and yet I still felt like it was going to eat me, but when it opened its maw and tried to spit something at me I just redirected my beam towards the softer, more sensitive flesh inside of its mouth and listened to it choke down that attack and all of the blood.

Cutting through its gums and forcing it to snap its jaws closed, I gave it a shaky smile before watching as Izzy slammed her blade into the top of its skull, pushing the monster downwards and allowing Aiko's katana to pierce its gullet.

For good measure Hilda leapt into the air again and landed atop its head, plunging her sword deep into its brain and killing the monster immediately, all while it was stuck between the wall and Heidi's shield.

The powerful monster that could have likely killed any of us in a one on one was now dead at our feet, all because we had the strength of one another to rely on, all because we trusted and believed in one another.

Power of friendship... not exactly, but definitely the real power of multiple swords against a single target turning that target into a pincushion, which was something I could get behind and believe in.